


The Devil You Know

by Lynxofthenight



Series: Good at Being Bad [1]
Category: Saints Row
Genre: Gen, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, This is basically something that woke me up at 4 am, and again at 5:30, so I wrote it to get it out of my head, spans all the games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22277107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynxofthenight/pseuds/Lynxofthenight
Summary: Mistakes and regret are part of life.Troy knows this all too well. He's left a trail of mistakes and regret in his wake over the years.And second chances don't always come along.But there's always an option to start a new story.
Series: Good at Being Bad [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603555
Kudos: 4





	The Devil You Know

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am, trying to sleep and *this* wakes me up. Literally woke me up.
> 
> So. Have…...a drabble that spans SR 1 through GoH, and probably doesn’t make any sense to anyone except to those who rp on tumblr with me. 
> 
> Skylar and Troy, from Troy’s pov in something of a drabble/oneshot. About as canon compliant as any Boss’ backstory feels like being- which means it will diverge at points of course, which is hard to tell in this what points those are I’ll admit. Also it’s been a bit since I played certain points of certain games so. Ignore certain timeline inaccuracies if there are any. 
> 
> This is in no way beta’d and probably won’t make a lick of sense. I just had to get it out of my head.
> 
> Maybe eventually when Devin stops being a shit and demanding attention I’ll do more stuff for Skylar. 
> 
> We’ll see.

* * *

When he first met her she was just another scrawny teen unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn’t agree with Julius’ decision to invite her to the church- would have fought it more if he’d realized she was younger than they’d all assumed. If he’d figured out she was the runaway that’d been plastered all over the news and police stations sooner he would have just revealed her then but he didn’t have a fucking clue.

That was his own failing in the end. Her choice of disguise wasn’t perfect but it was enough to throw off suspicion. Who would expect a seemingly pampered little heiress to make it so far on her own, let alone survive in a gang? And given she barely talked, it was just enough to keep his suspicions at bay until it was too late. Oh he figured she had a past, she wouldn’t have been there if she hadn’t. But to know what had been hiding right under his nose-

By the time he realized things had advanced too far- the Saints were falling right in line with what the Department wanted and she was their figurehead. A tiny little thing, sowing so much chaos and destruction and playing right into their plans. And then Lin’s murder and the Rollerz- if only he’d figured it out sooner he could have had her picked up and sent home where’d she’d be safe ~~(but really, would she have been? She ran away for a reason after all.).~~

She wouldn’t have ended up hidden away in the back of the church, bandaged and feverish as the Saints scrambled for retribution for the murder, and attempted murder, of one of their own. While Dex made frantic calls to the few doctors they could trust to get someone there and Julius tried to keep Johnny from leading a one man crusade when he wanted to do the same.

While he could only stare at the same face that had been staring at him from ‘ _Missing’_ posters for the last year and realizing it was far too late to save her from this life.

He tried reporting it to his superiors anyways. Letting them know their little ‘poster child’ of gang activity was literally a poster child, but they didn’t care. She was too useful and the fact that she survived only made her more valuable. She was a precious resource. A bargaining chip if it came down to it.

And then her 18th birthday passed and he could no longer do anything. Even if she did get picked up she’d just be tossed in jail, assuming they made it that far without another Saint interfering. She was an adult, no longer considered a runaway, and things were coming to a head.

Julius confronted him, things sped up and then...then everything was over in a blaze of fire and debris. A legacy, coming to an end. Or so most thought.

Finding Skylar alive after the explosion was a goddamn miracle.

But he was starting to come to the conclusion that she could survive the end of the world.

~~(If only he had known what the future held)~~

* * *

He didn’t know why he fought so hard to keep Skylar on life support over the years. Or why he did his best to make sure as much of her stuff ended up in Johnny or Aisha’s hands as possible. Some was seized as evidence but a good majority was in storage or with them at least. He’d made sure Aisha had a key to the storage unit as well, dropped off with an unsigned letter after he’d gotten everything set up. 

Maybe it was misplaced guilt for not going against orders and getting her sent home to spare her from her current fate- limp and comatose on a shitty excuse for a bed in jail- and maybe it was a quiet hope that one day she would wake up. That she’d just walk right back into his life with her cocky little grin and quiet confidence. Of course, given Johnny’s reaction to his wonderful promotion to Police Chief he couldn’t imagine Skylar would greet him with anything but a bullet either. Her sense of loyalty was probably stronger than Gat’s and that was saying something.

Of course reality always liked to throw a wrench in the works. 

Skylar did wake up. And immediately broke out of jail with another inmate. And before he’d even gotten the full report on that incident she was off saving Johnny from death row.

He’d seen part of it. Hard not to considering when he’d been told there was a shootout at the courthouse he’d assumed that Johnny had gotten his hands on a gun and raced over. 

He hadn’t exactly been wrong.

But he hadn’t been prepared to get there just in time to catch a flash of red hair disappearing into a cruiser’s driver seat as Get took up the passenger seat. He got a better look as she threw the cruiser into gear and took off, whooping loud enough to be heard over the chaos as she peeled out and bashed another cruiser out of the way to race out of the parking lot. The mental note he made to review blockade procedures was only on his mind for a moment as the stolen cruiser raced past him, meeting Skylar’s gaze for half a second.

And in that second he could tell that the kid he knew was long gone. In her place was a woman on a mission.

And Stilwater was never going to be the same again.

He was right. Because he knew her too well to assume she’d be okay with how things had ended up.

Skylar dragged the Saints from the ashes and brought them back into the light, bigger and better than they had ever dreamed before. They might have ruled the city in the past but they’d been puppets. Now? Now they rose to heights they could have only dreamed of in the past and no one pulled their strings.

He constantly had people screaming in his ear to get the gang back under control and every time he had to bite back some sort of sharp response. They hadn’t cared when the Brotherhood, Ronin and The Sons of Samedi had rolled into town. Those gangs could be bought and bribed. But not the Saints.

The Saints played by Skylar’s rules and she made sure she won.

And maybe he was tired of being told to ignore things because the Ronin paid them off. Or younger officers ignoring calls in known gang hotspots. Or the countless reports of college students OD’ing on drugs marketed as something else.

The Saints might not be perfect but there was always an underlying code of conduct with them. You got what you were promised with the Saints. There was no guessing if the drugs they ran were what they said they were. Have a place in Saints Territory and another gang came around? You got your protection. They took the darkest part of the city and made it better. In a way it was safer than the rest of the city if just for how fiercely the Saints defended their territory.

So he started making his own moves. He called off pursuits early when it came to the Saints. Sometimes the rare few of the officers he could trust happened to stumble across an unfair gang fight and butt in. If most of the Saints involved got away, oh well. They still had plenty of other gang members in prison. 

Some accused him of favoritism towards his old gang. He just replied with proof that the city was safer in recent days and no one could find enough evidence to pin him with anything.

But everyone noticed.

And soon enough he ended up with a pair of visitors to his apartment. 

Of course, coming back from a long day of arguing with various city officials to find a certain gang leader casually rooting through his fridge and eating his left over pie nearly gave him a heart attack. Especially considering he had no idea how she got in.

Johnny lurking right by the door when he turned to hang up his coat after realizing Skylar wasn’t there to cause trouble, basically did give him one. 

~~(Skylar didn’t let him live down the noise he made upon that little discovery for at least two weeks.)~~

A conversation ensued. Tense wouldn’t be the right word for it but it wasn’t very comfortable either. He was at least truthful with the pair and in turn they listened. Or, Skylar listened and Johnny glared. It was clear Gat wasn’t pleased to be here but hadn’t been willing to let Skylar do this on her own.

But a tentative truce was formed. He couldn’t pull back the heat on the Saints completely, but he would do what he could. In turn, the Saints would do their best to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. Property damage as well, but he wasn’t banking on that one sticking. It wasn’t perfect and could barely be called a truce but it was better than the nothing they’d had before. 

From there things settled down for a bit. They had a month of peace...and shit hit the fan.

He knew something was wrong when the pressure on him tripled. Suddenly his loyal cops were being reassigned to other cities without his input and in their place came the most disobedient sons of bitches he’d ever seen. Gang activity was ramping up as well, thought to what purpose he couldn’t figure out. But he didn’t even have time to think about that due to the stress from his own work, more and more piling on day by day.

At some point he was going to break.

And then he did.

And he regretted it for the rest of his life.

Everything fell apart within a week.

First was Aisha. Getting the report of a homicide at the address he knew belonged to the former star hadn’t been immediately alarming. He assumed a slip up on someone’s part and a body had been discovered. Sloppy work or something, something to needle Johnny about later. Reading further in and learning that it had been Aisha herself- beheaded- had made him physically sick. The drinking started with that. 

Then came the reports of a Brotherhood truck dragging a body behind it. The officer writing the report hadn’t been able to stop it in time but had been there to witness the end of the event. Of what Skylar had ended up having to do. The drinking increased. An Ultor suit showed up at the precinct and left behind a folder. Troy didn’t touch it.

And finally...Shivington burned. Shivington burned the last day of the week from Aisha’s death and city officials were screaming at him constantly and there was just too much going on between them, Ultor, and the gang activity- it was an assault from every side and he didn’t have a clue what he could do to solve any of it.

He was already long past drunk when he got back to his apartment to find Skylar already there. Had he been in a more sober state he might of realized she came to him for some sort of comfort. A reassurance that the world wasn’t falling down around her in the span of the week. With Johnny still in the hospital he was who she had gone to.

And instead he let the drink take hold and yelled at her. Exploded really. She gave as good as she got but it was too much in the end. She’d come for comfort and he’d tossed that right back in her face so she tried to leave. The argument itself would forever be a blurry haze in his memories but he could remember his temper spiking and what happened next clearly enough.

She turned her back to him to leave and he shot her.

He realized what he did a split second afterwards, his gun dropping to the ground. 

Skylar stumbled, caught herself on the door frame and pressed a hand to her side. Blood was already showing through her shirt.

When she looked back at him he didn’t see the woman she grew into. He saw the scared teenager he and Julius had saved all those years ago.

He didn’t even try to stop her as she ran.

After that any hope of a truce was gone and it was his own damn fault. He tried to apologize but he could never find the words to say let alone a chance to say them.

The next time he saw Skylar, Johnny was once again a looming presence at her side. And Gat didn’t even hesitate when he spotted him, drawing a pistol and taking a few shots at the car he was in. Only the fact that there was little traffic had allowed him to get away with his life.

But he’d seen the way Skylar had stepped a fraction behind Johnny’s bulk when she saw him. Putting something between them.

He couldn’t blame her.

The Saints took control of the city not long after. It was like the gang had been spurred into action instead of falling to ruins at their top two being injured and no one else could recover fast enough to do a damn thing about it. 

Even Ultor eventually fell to them, though the merger with the Saints was an attempt at a win.

Troy knew it wouldn’t last.

Ultor was the embodiment of almost everything Skylar hated.

And he was right in the end.

* * *

When he heard about the bank heist he nearly laughed out loud. Of course their first real big job ended up botched after so long without any proper action.

He didn’t find anything funny in the reports of Johnny’s death. Nor how the Saints seemed to systematically be taking over Steelport in a bid for revenge. 

Even the Saints left in Stilwater were more vicious, stamping down any attempt by rivals poking their heads in where they weren’t wanted. The gang had been divided by corporate ties and their own loyalty but Johnny’s death had brought everything back together.

He considered reaching out to Skylar to offer her….something. Comfort? Reassurance? Everything he should have given her years ago. 

But he didn’t. Instead he just shut out Cyrus and Monica Hughes when they came to him for help dealing with the Saints. Said he had enough problems with the ones left in Stilwater. Steelport was their issue to handle.

At this point it was all he could think of to do.

His chapter with the Saints was long over. He’d made sure of that with his own mistakes.

* * *

Seeing Skylar become president was surreal. He’d known she could lead, there was no way the Saints would have done so well if she couldn’t, but it was one thing to lead a gang and another to lead a country. He wouldn't be the first to admit he didn't think it was a good thing.

But in the end he was pleasantly surprised. She was the most unorthodox president they'd ever had, that was an absolute given, but somehow she made it work. To a point of course. Her popularity began to decline over time, spiking down harshly after a failed summit, but he was still going to give her credit that she hadn't managed to start any wars.

Talks of re-election had only just begun, and according to the polls her chances weren't all that great. Then again he wouldn't have been surprised to see her pull a win out of her ass like she did most other seemingly impossible situations.

But then the world ended so he never really got to see how that would have turned out.

Bullshit.

* * *

Hell was all it was cracked up to be but not at the same time.

A fiery pit of never ending despair and pain? Yes. Eternal torture? Not if you figured out the system.

And frankly it wasn't all that hard to puzzle out in the end. He earned his body back and then some and frankly after playing so long at being the law abiding police chief having a chance to let go and not be Mr.Picture-perfect was a blessing. Funny, considering he was a citizen of hell now but he'd take what he could get. 

Plus, tracking down a few of the people he'd always had issue with was quite a fun way to pass the time.

Of course he ran into Dex there. It really wasn't all that surprising that he would when he thought about it. Dex pulled just as much shit as he had over the years, for as good or as bad of reasons. They settled into something of a truce, neither willing to bring up their shared past together but not willing to alienate a potential ally.

Things were fine for a time. Hell was strange but freeing and he loved it.

And then Satan had the brilliant idea to steal Skylar from the world of the living and try to force her to marry his daughter of all things.

As far as plans go, it was about the stupidest thing he'd ever heard of. And he'd heard people suggest streaking across a football field was a viable distraction for plans.

Getting Skylar to agree to anything like that would be near impossible. Forcing her to do it would net even worse results.

He was right of course. Won twenty souls off Dex with that bet too.

Of course he hadn't been expecting Johnny to break into hell to get Skylar back. He'd of course thought it was weird that he hadn't seen any sign of Johnny in Hell since getting there- there was no way Gat was making it to heaven if he hadn't- but he'd always figured the bastard had gotten cocky and challenged Satan and been obliterated or something. It wasn’t exactly the most far fetched thought when it came down to it.

But no.

The bastard was alive. And wasn't that a kick in the teeth? Thought dead for years but no. Here comes the fucker out of the ether to rescue Skylar. Because not even the end of the world can get rid of either of them. Apparently.

How they could survive the end of the world was a question for another time, instead both he and Dex made themselves scarce rather quickly when Johnny first showed up. While his main goal was probably Skylar there was no telling if Johnny might consider dealing with old grudges a viable distraction. So, they'd do the smart thing and just keep out of his way.

That worked for all of a day.

But it wasn't Johnny who found him. No. That honor went to a glowing little ball of soul that managed to get separated from its body.

Fucking leave it to Skylar to manage that little feat in the worst possible place. Hell thrived on souls and here she was floating around without a fucking care in the the world. 

Goddamn it Skylar.

_‘Fuck you too.’_

Souls couldn’t technically speak, but those of an individual strong-willed enough could get their meaning across. And Skylar was no exception. 

Of course Skylar being Skylar, and souls detached from their body lacking in both common sense and fear among other things, she stuck around him for some damned reason. ~~Because for all their issues in the past he was the evil she knew. And she could handle that.~~ He could have easily just dealt with her, done what he had with countless others and taken her for himself to feed his growing power.

But he didn’t.

When Dex later asked why, it was because he knew it would draw Johnny’s anger of course- the man was gunning to kill Satan and was well on his way to enough power and influence to do just that in a short amount of time already. He was no fool, he’d never match the power Johnny had gained so quickly. Staying as close to Johnny’s good side as he could get was the key to staying alive at the moment.

But what he wouldn’t admit was that some of the guilt he’d harbored for years still lingered within him. It was a funny thing, a demon feeling guilt. It was a human emotion more than anything and he’d forgone those when he came to terms with what he was years ago. And yet here he was, letting it rule him and guide his decisions. He’d fucked up plenty of times before. This wouldn’t be complete redemption, he was too far gone for that, but maybe it’d make up for a little bit.

\--

“So Skylar...what do you say I protect you from now on, and in turn you keep Johnny from hurting me when he sees me.”

_‘...Alright. That sounds reasonable.’_

“Then, I do believe we have a **deal.** ”

\--

And maybe he did take a bit of an advantage when it came to the wording and the fact that Skylar’s soul was too trusting, as all souls of the living were when separated from their bodies- memories and experiences a faint echo not easily called upon to caution against certain actions, but it’d work out for everyone in the end. 

After all, he couldn’t go back on a deal.

And he was bound to his word, and now Skylar, till the end of the days.

Maybe that’d be enough time to atone for a few things. 

Maybe not.

But it was better than digging himself a deeper pit like he’d been doing all this time. 

* * *

**Extra:**

And honestly it was worth it once everything was over, when he just followed the pull of the deal to Skylar and waltzed right out of Hell and onto their little spaceship to see the irritation on Johnny’s face when the man realized that he could do that any time he wanted, and that he couldn’t just shoot him to get rid of him.

Keeping an eye on Skylar was always his main priority.

But pissing off Johnny Gat and walking away without a scratch was a damn satisfying bonus.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So... Demon!Troy is....well. He's certainly different than most other Troy's out there. Granted Skylar's Troy doesn't usually fit the mold without the demon aspect anyways so. Eh. But since becoming a demon he's a bit more unhinged and not quite twisted but hm. He sees things from a different perspective now so. 
> 
> I've had Demon!Troy thoughts since way back when GoH was released. When he was only in the game for his brief cameo as a husk well...I was disappointed. I was disappointed with a lot of GoH but I did enjoy the game.
> 
> I just felt that the story could have been far more amazing. We missed out on so much closure.


End file.
